Welcome to the Jewish Federation of North America's Negev Funding Coalition page.

This page is dedicated to the Negev Funding Coalition's Young Communities, Sustainable Future project.

Young Communities, Sustainable Future is a program initiated and supported by the Negev Funding Coalition.

The program is operated by four Israeli organizations collaborating with nine communities throughout the Negev as a network.

Young Communities is a movement of local Negev communities, which aims to create and implement social projects in the Negev. The initiative helps bring young people to the Negev, specifically to low socioeconomic areas; improving the quality of life for all around them.

The Coalition is working with Young Communities on the second stage on the movement's development to help communities become sustainable.

This program supports and guides young adult communities in their efforts to develop and provide significant and stable social service projects in the Negev. In this project the Negev Funding Coalition partners with the Jewish Agency as well as the Shahaf and the Gandyr Foundations, two leading Israeli philanthropic bodies in the young adult field.

Goals of the Project

·Identifying opportunities and building capacity and skills necessary for the implementation of the sustainable social projects, that are needed in the communities and meaningful for the participants

·Creating a shared culture between young communities and the surrounding environment, as well as nine communities themselves

·Encouraging pluralism and tolerance through networking of different communities, religious and secular.

What the Coalition does

·Gives professional tools, assistance and support to the selected young communities in the Negev. This includes providing participants with professional training and seminars.

·Enables communication between the network of communities, provides a platform and fosters an efficient collaboration among the communities.

·Provides leveraging for projects' implementation.

- - Who are the people involved in the Young Communities? Read about the people on the ground, who are making this work. - -

She joined the community a year ago…in order to build the land, to merit from the economic benefits, build the Negev, express Zionist values, and build our home with an incredible and sweet community.

She was attracted to the idea of the community: Immediately!

She heard about the community because: she did national service in the area.

Expectations: obligations towards the place, building a society of quality which influences its surroundings.

What do you think is the most attractive quality of the project? A feeling of shared endeavor, a shared spiritual labor. There is a lot of strength in our group, a sense of vivacity.

What words characterize the project for you?

Innovation, building a community, a feeling of being together, family, future, shared effort, caring for each other, giving, positivity, connection, ideals.

Hila Nahun-Efrati – Kama Community

The communal unit is a program to set up and assist young communities made up from across the social spectrum in the socio-geographic periphery of Israel. The program enables young people from all walks of life to receive the tools and guidance to establish a community and reveals to many young people the possibility of an active and leadership lifestyle in Israeli society.

I am "unbiased" although I work in the program; I think that the young communities in Israel can create tangible positive social change in Israeli society and more. There will be more young people like these that can minimize the social and economic gaps between the center of the country and the periphery. And Israeli society will be more solidified and cohesive.

What words characterize the project for you?

Innovation, social change, community building, a feeling of being together, family, future, building the State of Israel, a shared effort, caring for each other, commitment, connection, ideals, modern Zionism.

The project enables the community to "go up a notch" in its productivity in putting projects in action, both those from point of view of the importance of setting up a community and also from the point of view of the projects' importance. The project gives a lot of professional tools, assistance and support without which it would be practically impossible to carry out this project.

Once a week, either Thursday evening or Friday morning, we set aside time for the community. The Community Day begins with a communal meal that different members of the community prepare. We talk about life in the community, make shared decisions and learn together about to concretize social interaction in the community.

What does being part of this Negev Funding Coalition project mean to you? This word art represents some of our ideas. We'd love to hear yours. Jot a line to tikva.schein@jewishfederations.org to give us your feedback.

Young Communities, Sustainable Future - Examples of Projects

·MiDor LeDor in Sderot and Pe'ima in Beer Sheva are two communities of Russian Speaking Jews from the Caucasian region. The "Safe Passage" project aims to help Caucasian children in their transition from kindergarten to elementary school

·Kamain Beer Sheva

The program represents a model of cooperation between the community and municipality on building ecological kindergarten

·Shuva in Moshav Shuva

Helping young people who experienced emotionally crises through integrating them into community

·El-Ami in Eilat

Project includes working with children with behavioral problems and disabled children.

·Be-Yachad in Yeruham

Building a Family Center which will provide training, support, advice and guidance for parents

·Afikey-Orotin Ofakim

Children's Club

·Hineni in Kiryat Gat

Establishing an Ethiopian Jewish identity center

·Ve Alitam BaNegevin Mitzpe Ramon

Working with the department of welfare to establish a clubhouse and family center for the local population